All in the Mind
by Cat-Teen
Summary: 4th in the Triquetra Series. Thought Daimen was gone? Yeah right! Plus, introducing the Dark Syren.
1. Games

The Cat-teen's back on another Job y'all! Trouble was, I had to get this written before Dark Kamikaze attempted to force it out of me (jk.) Ever wonder what became of Daimen? Still stuck in Stonegate? Now come on, y'all didn't _really_ believe that, did you? Well, check out Dark Kamikaze's fic Escape to find out how he managed to get out. Enjoy!

Prologue

My name is Syren O'Malley, but screw that. I don't use it. I'm the Dark Syren. They say that Gotham is over-populated with heroes, and okay, so maybe it is. But with the Bat taking care of the mad ones, the Birds of Prey on his side, and the Triquetra taking care of the younger villains, who is there to go for the real underdog? The thugs and back street gangsters who are going to be a problem to any of those eventually? I'll tell you. There's me. That's where I come in.

I first came to this God-forsaken city from Ireland when I was sixteen. I was coming to live with my brother Daly. He was on the police force here, ironically. But when I arrived at the airport, he wasn't there to meet me like he'd said. So I tried his phone and his pager and tried his home line and everything, but no answer, so I just kind of hung a round for a couple of hours. That was before I got worried and called a cab to take me to his apartment. But when noone came to the door, it was a sickly, rancid smell that met me. I knew I had the address right, so I picked the lock, knowing there was something wrong. But sometimes I wish I'd just stayed on the plane and gone back home. What I saw, I will never forget.

Daly... dead... Slashed to pieces like a slab of meat. The first thing I remember is being violently sick, then screaming for help, and then calling the police. My first frigging day in Gotham was the worst day of my life. The next couple of weeks are a bit of a blur looking back, but eventually, the police were able to tell me he had been murdered by thugs. However, they wouldn't tell me who they were working for at the time. Something to do with a lack of evidence, if memory serves me. Eventually, however, I managed to drag a suspicion from some of his friends.

Maybe vigilantism wasn't the smartest idea that popped into my head at the time, but in this town, the black mask and dagger approach seemed a lot more reasonable than it would in Dublin. So that's what I did. Having all Daly's old police connections didn't hurt, but after a lot of work I managed to find out that the gangster to be held responsible for my brother's brutal murder was also into illegal gambling. It's strange, but I think it was a form of mourning. It was like I was doing exactly what he had tried to do by shutting the guy down.

It wasn't much, and it wasn't hard, but I know I shouldn't have done it. It was an old wooden building, hovering on the end of a pier on the waterfront. All it took was one pretty little match in the right place, and within minutes the entire building was in flames. Of course, Ace Memphis, the lord of the establishment, took the time to try and save his precious money, so I found him in a frenzy by his makeshift vault. I practically jumped him with a dagger in each hand.

He gabbled like an idiot until I rolled one of the blades in against my arm and slapped him in the face with the hilt. "Get up," I instructed him. It had to be a strange sight. Me, being a lithe teenage redhead, leading a muscular, blithering moron in a sharply cut suit through the flames until he was safely on solid ground.

"Who are you?" he asked, in obvious, grateful awe.

A second later, my fist was in his stomach and my knee below his chin. And with him knocked out, I managed (with great difficulty because of his size) to tie him up and roll him off the dock onto the silt shore beneath. All I had to do was tip the police off and get out of there before anyone arrived. I believe it was the simplicity of it all that brought me out into the streets at night after that, hunting down others like Memphis, avoiding the more established heroes and learning to live in the mask. There was no vengeance, no motive, no code of honour... just something to do in a city that had nothing else for me and didn't want to know me.

And then there was Daimen... Daimen had been double-crossed by his partner and trapped in Stonegate's maximum-security wing by the sadistic bitch. How was I supposed to know he was an over powerful git of a bad guy? How was I supposed to know his partner had been one of the Triquetra in disguise, trying to divert the Gothamite Missile Crisis? How was I supposed to know he was using me?

I wasn't!

Which is why I never got Teleka's reaction, but that part comes later.

I met him one night after a particularly long fight. He'd been watching the entire time, or so he claimed, so naturally I was annoyed he hadn't jumped in to play the knight in shining armour (I'm a hopeless romantic, so sue me.) But after a while, after I'd heard the butchered version of his story we got to talking, and we stayed to talking until the next morning. How was I supposed to know he was reading my mind for topics? Again, I wasn't!

The worst was a few days later on really. We were passing Triquetra Headquarters and I swear, if you'd seen the look on his face. He looked like he was about to explode, and then it just... disappeared, just like that. And he says to me, "Could you do me a favour?" and I say something like whatever or something and then I see his hand going into his coat and I'm getting just a little anxious, and then, before I can even see it, there's a katana through my stomach. And he says thanks and walked away, just like that. So there I am with this sword through me and blood pouring out in all directions and I know I'm going to black out anyways. I was about to scream at him, but he was gone, like he'd just vanished into thin air.

I knew I'd never make it as far as the hospital, and I couldn't think of anywhere else, so I managed to drag myself up the path to Triquetra HQ and all I can think of is finding someone who can get this bloody thing out of me. So it's Venom who comes to meet me at the door and he takes me inside. And that's where I blacked out. I guess this was where it all started up...

Chapter One: Games

Three hours later, the stranger was lying stabilised on a makeshift pallet in Teleka's workshop. She was deeply unconscious, but there was nothing more to do at this stage. "Ven, did you get anything on file?"

"About seventeen people fitting the description, Telly. Sorry."

"We'll have to get her when she wakes up. Blue, check your lie detector powers."

"I'm at full power, as you know fine well, which is why I picked up a half-lie on that last sentence."

"Good. We only have to wait now. Coffee anyone?" she offered, setting up a camera to watch the recovering girl when she left the room.

"Why do even offer when you know I hate the stuff?" Blue Moon told her incredulously.

"I'm going to crossref with the Titans' files. No thanks Telly." Both Venom and Blue Moon left the basement workshop shortly while Teleka occupied herself at a desk nearby. As soon as the other two were gone, she glanced quickly around the room, her eyes resting on the girl's backpack where it had been discarded in the corner. She roughly shoved everything to the back of the desk and called the bag to her hand with her powers, emptying the contents onto the surface.

"Sorry about this, hon. The other two don't approve of invasion of privacy. I, however, approve of doing whatever it takes," she apologized to the silent stranger. First to catch her eye was the simple, black mask. "Very Lone Ranger... You in our line of work?" she continued, not at all uncomfortable talking to an unconscious person. She continued to rifle through, eventually coming across two black daggers and a collapsible crossbow, all of which were elaborately carved with black onyx roses. "Heavy weapons..." she murmured. "You're either a merc or the next generation of Huntress, friend. Who else bothers to go out without a wallet these days?" She sighed and scooped the items back into the bag; "I seriously need that coffee now."

O'Malley woke up slowly, still faint and groggy from the blood loss. She was suddenly alert however when she didn't recognize her surroundings. A lot of the last day or so blurred away from her grasp as she tried to remember. The sharp pain in her abdomen when she tried to sit up reminded her she had been wounded, but with no idea why, she forced herself to straighten. The tight bandages cut into her slightly as she pulled her top down to cover them and swung her legs sideways from the pallet. Her bag and long coat were on opposite sides of the room, and as she gathered them up, she noticed the camera keenly following her every move from the table. Cautiously, without moving further, her hand went to the side pocket of her pack, finding her daggers in completely the wrong place. She leapt forward and drove it through the machine, instantly feeling the pain in her stomach.

She dropped against the wall, wishing to God she's stayed in the pallet.

Footsteps... above her... Frantically, Syren glanced around. She seemed to be in a basement, no windows being apparent and a set of stairs at the widest end of the long triangular room. She scrabbled for a hiding place behind one of the many desks. A wide drawer lay open in front of her, a file laying half open against it's neighbour. And inside, at the top of the thick typed dossier, was a small passport sized picture. "Daimen," she breathed, never losing sight of the possible imminent danger she was in. She snatched the file and folded herself around the edge of the table, hidden behind the deep drawer. The footsteps were on the stairs now, coming closer to her every minute, but Syren was lost in reading the file. Eventually, she found a stack of photographs, obviously taken from the CCTV cameras around the city. The quality was terrible, but most of the main characters were partially visible. Among them, two of the Triquetra and Daimen... She continued to flick through, finally coming to the last shot, a glorious full colour shot of Daimen floating paralysed in the tank he had been trapped in at Stonegate prison, and Teleka playfully giving the peace sign into the camera with a blonde wig in her hand.

Confusion did not begin to cover the range of emotions in Syren's head. Hadn't Daimen told her he'd been betrayed? She flicked back through the photographs. The girl with the blonde hair... none of the pictures were clear enough to see her features, but Syren was now convinced that it was definitely Teleka beside Daimen. Of course this only added to her bewilderment. Suddenly, in a rush like the mother of all headaches, the feeling of the searing blade of the katana sliding through her skin like a butcher's knife through tender meat returned to her. She was a message... Pain forced her to gasp out, revealing herself to the wary Teleka who stood at the foot of the stairs in silence.

"You shouldn't have moved," she stated sympathetically, helping Syren to her feet.

"I forgot where I was. Have I out stayed my welcome?"

"You're not leaving yet," smile Teleka, with a hint of threat that made Syren keep one of her daggers safely in her boot.

"Shit!" Teleka screamed, half an hour later as soon as the word Daimen had entered the conversation. She tipped her chair backwards and landed in the window seat, her head buried in the cushions while she shrieked. Simultaneously, Blue Moon leapt into the air and hovered there in a protective ball, while Venom's head dropped into his hands before hitting the table with a loud clunk.

"Something I said?" Syren asked, already knowing the answer.

"Look up the term, 'hateful, insanely powerful, overly confident, demon git' in the dictionary and there's a picture of Daimen beside it," Venom explained, resisting the urge to laugh at the forlorn, faraway look on Teleka's face as she gazed mournfully in middle-distance, and at Blue Moon, who seemed to quiver at the thought of facing Daimen again.

"I had an idea," she replied. "It's so weird, he seemed really nice... for about a week. Then we were just walking and we passed this place. Next thing I knew there was a bloody katana through me. Some scary crap, I'm tellin' ye." Syren's hands subconsciously went to the bandage on her stomach as she spoke, her thick brogue lilting her words.

"Yeah, he'll do that to ya," Teleka told her listlessly, composing herself enough to return to the table, righting Blue's chair as she went.

"He never sold _Nocturne_ out," Blue Moon jabbed playfully, glancing sideways at Teleka as she dropped into her seat, only to find it pulled out from beneath her just as she sat. "Mainly because she got to him first," she finished sullenly.

"Blue. _Please_ shut up, go down and get the files. Venom, get on the computer and call up everything we have on Daimen. Syren, come with me, I'm going to help you remember what happened exactly. The message he was talking about... it might be in your mind." The other two left dutifully, leaving only Syren and Teleka in the room. "Are you sure that's all you remember?" she asked, her voice cold and interrogative.

"Yes." Syren's answer was clipped and short as she looked at Teleka through narrowed eyes. "What did you mean by 'in my mind'?"

"Daimen carries a huge arsenal of ESP powers. He told you that you were a message. I don't doubt him. Follow me." Teleka spoke tersely, standing and walking purposefully from the room. To her surprise, Syren had no problem keeping up. Somewhere in her third of headquarters, Teleka knocked open a door and stepped back to allow Syren ahead of her. The room inside was completely white, and bare but for a wide, flat mattress, raised from the floor on a utilitarian frame. "Just lie down and try to relax. Standard psychic rescue stuff," she explained, not at all reassuringly.

"Well, if I come out with a hatchet in my back..."

"I'm sorry if I come over as cold. I don't want to be monotonous, but it was standard interrogation stuff." Syren smiled and allowed herself to be helped on to the pallet.

"You're not going to mess about up there are you?" she asked warily, tapping the side of her head.

"I'll try not to." Teleka placed one of her hands on either temple and breathed deeply. "By the way, if there's anything you'd really rather forget, I can scramble it while I'm inside."

"How about the last week?"

"That's the bit you _need _to remember."

"Damn..." Syren twitched slightly as Teleka's consciousness faded into her own, and the redhead's body fell limply to the floor.

Syren's mind took on the form of a lush, autumnal forest, something she probably had never seen herself until Teleka awakened it. "Fields of Home?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe so." Syren's reply came from all directions, echoing through the trees as Teleka looked for the abnormalities that represented the parts of the mind a human used. "Strange I never knew what my mind looked like..."

"Not really. It's mostly precogs and psychics who've seen the more sophisticated version of the mind. And monks. Lots and lots of monks." Syren laughed a little, but Teleka managed to pick up the sound of a river. She stumbled on the steep bank, and tripped, but managed to jump forward and land on the rocks at the waters edge. "Something's hiding down here..." she murmured. She took a tentative step into the water, barely even touching the surface, but felt herself pulled away downstream by currents. She cried out in shock and fear until she dropped over a precipice into a still pool.

"Are you okay?" Syren asked worriedly as Teleka observed her surroundings, a dark cave made of stone that shimmered with rainbows.

"I've lived through worse. Help me out, are you feeling anything helpful down here?"

"My head hurts, that's about it."

"Then something's really hiding. I hate to say it, but prepare yourself for a wicked migraine." Teleka waded through the knee-deep water and shook herself off on the shore. The cave stretched on as a narrow tunnel in only one direction, forcing her to crawl through the rock to follow the course. However it only seemed to get narrower and narrower until she was forced to push the stone ahead of her with her powers. She broke through into another, smaller cave, bleeding from the numerous scratches she had borne from the jagged stone.

"I knew you'd find me." She snapped her head upwards from the neck, hearing the tiny cracks of her stiffened bones.

"Heya D," she said, maintaining a bored, cool tone.

"Don't be coquettish. I suppose you know."

"Know...?"

Immediately, a projection appeared. A car... slamming into something in a red glow... "Remember that?"

"I don't know, I've done that a few times."

"You only did it once with my fiancée in the car." Teleka raised a single eyebrow, knowing well she always thoroughly checked telepathically for life signs before even so much as touching a possible projectile.

"_This_ is the basis of your revenge gig? Even you're better than that. And a better liar too."

"You think this is a joke? You killed her! And not forgetting the matter of a girl called Nocturne."

"If I said that was research for a movie role as a bad guy, would you believe me?"

"You wouldn't need to practice for that. This was really just let you know I'm back. And to give you fair warning."

"Good to know even the evil have some sporting spirit."

"Well I never hit a woman unless I've told her first."

"What a warped moral. I guess it was the best I could have hoped for."

"Just remember. I'm inside her head. I see what she sees, I hear what she hears."

"You bluff when she bluffs."

"You still think I'm joking? Can you afford to test that out?"

"Once I've taken out the trash, yes," Teleka snarled with finality, thrusting her hand forward in his direction to channel her telekinesis. Daimen flew backwards, taken by surprise and crashed through the stone wall, allowing the light from outside to stream through, nearly blinding Teleka.

"Are you okay?!" Syren repeated, showing more obvious concern. Teleka simply nodded, about to stand up before falling to the floor again and rolling over on her back.

"What about you? Was the blast too harsh?"

"Is he gone? 'Cause if he is then it only really tickled. If not then I have an unnecessary headache."

"I think so. There's still something dark in here, but it's probably just the other parts of you. I'm coming out now, and I'm going to lie, it'll hurt like hell."

"It can't get any worse," Syren told her perkily but Teleka simply muttered something implausible and extracted herself from Syren's mind. Both of the girls felt a feral scream of pain rip their throats, but never heard it, immediately falling unconscious again.

"Where the 'ell is she?" Blue Moon cried indignantly after half an hour of strained silence studying the files. "I mean, she tells us to go and get this stuff and then she forgets all about us!"

"Relax Blue. She hates the psychic rescue stuff. Says it hurts too much. Believe me it's true."

"When'd she ever do it on you?"

"Remember a friend of ours named the Scarecrow? You had it too."

"Oh yeah... Christ, it _is_ sore, isn't it?" Just at that moment, before Venom's patience for Blue's constant chattering was further tested, both Syren and Teleka staggered in, each trying to ease the lasting pain from the internal struggle.

"Psychic rescue, V? You sure that's what it was?" Blue Moon joked. "Looks to me like the two of 'em's hungover." She laughed garishly until she felt the bone of Teleka's elbow at the back of her head. "That was uncalled for, mate." She spun her chair to hand Teleka the files and immediately felt a swell of pity. Her head was rested on her arms morosely and she had lapsed into staring into space again. It had to be that she blamed herself for Daimen's escape from Stonegate, for not taking in the factor that his ESP might allow him to break through the barriers. She slid the files playfully into her nose, slightly put down when Teleka simply batted them away.

"Didn't you know who you were getting in with?" she asked suddenly, directing her question at Syren, whose head was carelessly buried in a cushion. She looked up with clear confusion at Teleka's sharp tone. "Didn't it occur to you that maybe you should find out what side he was on before you became the best of friends?"

"It wasn't the first thing to cross my mind, no. I'll admit, it was a stupid mistake, but he was convincing," she snapped back in her thick accent.

"Teleka, drop it," Venom told her warningly. "What did you find out?"

"Daimen had himself in her head. I think I got him out."

"You think?" the other three asked in incredulous unison.

"If he wanted to stay, he's more than capable of hiding. Which is why I wanted to ask Syren to leave." Immediately, all heads turned towards Syren, bar the astute Venom, who heard something on the edge of Teleka's voice, which even Blue Moon hadn't picked up.

Syren simply tossed her head in reply. "No. I want to help. I'm staying. If there's something in my head I'll sense it."

"It's not an option," Teleka told her, leaving no room for argument. "I'm not cutting you out entirely, but it's too dangerous to have you around headquarters. We _do_ need to keep in touch however." She rifled through the drawer at the side of the table and pulled out one of the extra communicators they always kept spare. "Hold on to that. If we need you, we'll call."

"And vice-versa?" Teleka nodded before returning her head to her arms. Venom stood to lead her out, but she simply shook her head again. "I'll show myself out. I'll let you know if I find anything."

So... review worthy, right? Free Triquetra Plushies for every review!


	2. Distractions

Chapter 2: Distractions

Syren seethed inwardly at she left Triquetra Headquarters, only angered that she knew Teleka was right. The idea of someone or something so evil sharing space in her head disgusted her. She ducked into a side alley and scaled the fire escape to an empty apartment halfway up the nearest building. She snapped her foot into the glass and slid herself through. She began to pull the pieces of her costume from her bag and changed quickly, intending to go straight out into the twilight rather than wait for night. However, abandoned as the place might be, there were some leftover home comforts. She stalked threateningly towards an ancient armchair and pushed it over, before lifting the broken shards of a coffee table and hurling them into the wall. Shards became splinters as she screamed out a dare for anything inside of her to come out and take her head on.

When nothing happened, Syren allowed her ragged breathing to slow before rapidly turning and running towards the window. She flattened her body and dove out into the air without a rope, unsure of exactly what she was doing. All she knew was that suddenly her reflexes were better than ever. She could see, hear, smell, even feel the air around her, aware of every tiny movement. She was utterly fearless...

Inches from the ground, she found she suddenly stopped. A sharp ache in her arms and stomach alerted her that she was hanging precariously from the last platform of the fire escape. She allowed her fingers to slide from the metal and dropped to the pavement. Eight storeys, she counted from the ground up. She had just jumped eight floors on impulse, and found herself not only alive, but with the pains in her head and stomach gone. She rolled up her t-shirt and checked the bandage. To her shock, the wound had finally stopped bleeding and had begun to glaze over with new skin. Suddenly, the revelations scared her and she began to run through the backstreets until something made her stop abruptly.

A smell... sweat... blood... fear... She took off again, running at full pelt towards the source. She came up against a solid steel door, pounding to a stop in front of it. The new instincts she had found told her she needed to be behind this door and pulled her back into a coiled position, springing her into the plate and knocking it through. Immediately, noises met her from below. "Please don't hurt me," someone pleaded pitifully at the foot of the stairs that led down from her. She ducked behind the balustrade and tried to get a closer look at the assailant.

"You think you can hold out on us?" the attacker shouted, but he still didn't come out of the gloom. Syren reached up, barely realizing, and wrapped her hands around the bar. She flipped over and let go, surfing the bar to the bottom and landing in front of the thug.

"Little girl coming to play?"

"Big tough guy hiding from her?" she retaliated, her hands resting cautiously on the daggers at her belt.

"You don't want me to come out there," the male voice replied, a teasing note lying over it.

"No, I want you to leave."

"Really? I'm afraid that can't happen." Suddenly, shining red eyes and a leering white smile became visible through the shadows. "Not if I'm not really here."

"Daimen!" she gasped, her eyes wide in fear. She spun on her heel to warn the victim she had been sure was behind her. Instead she found there was noone there. She hadn't felt him leave, hadn't felt a thing. The door was still exactly as she had left it.

"Right. And on your first guess... You're smarter than I give you credit for. I bet you don't know what's happening to you. You jumped out of an eighth floor window without a scratch. I put a katana through your stomach and all that's left is the scar. That was only yesterday. I bet you'd love to know what's happening."

"I don't want to hear it from you," she scowled, hardly able to disguise the curious hesitancy on her voice. Infuriatingly, he saw through her.

"Yes you do. It's obvious, written all over you."

"Oh I'm not say I don't want to know, but there are other places I can find out."

"Really? You believe that? Where?" The mocking leer grew wider as Syren's mouth pulled up into an ugly snarl at one side. She bridled while she childishly fumbled for an answer, any answer.

"Any number of places. The Triquetra, Teen Titans... The Bat if I have to. But not you."

"You're really very pretty when you're making things up as you go. The Triquetra don't care about you. Why would they have sent you back out otherwise? The Teen Titans couldn't tell you anything, even if they wanted to, because they don't know. And you're shit scared of the Dark Knight. None of them can tell you anything, because they don't know who's doing it, and I do." He smiled almost kindly to finish, prompting her rage to reach breaking point. She thrust herself forward, sensing something wrong as she attempted to shove him away from her, out of her mind. But her hands met with nothing but air and she lost her balance, toppling forward like a tower of bricks and collapsing to the concrete.

Syren scrambled to her feet and backed into the corner, her eyes flickering around the relatively small space. Nothing... Noone... Just a crack of light from the door. "Damn psychic in my head. She's screwed me up," she murmured to herself, not entirely convinced by her own reasoning. She leant her head back against the wall with a deep sigh, peripherally catching an object beneath the metal stairs. She was suddenly alert again, edging closer to it in case it was some kind of trap. Just a wooden crate, with no visible trappings, she observed. She drew her daggers and place one at either side, using them as leverage in place of a crowbar.

The lid popped off easily, coming into her hands. She pulled away layers of paper stuffing that were covering the object within. A large black orb, seemingly made of glass or obsidian and delicately carved with intricate patterns. Something told her not to touch it at the back of her mind, and on the basis of her newfound instincts, she paid attention. Delicately, she replaced the lid and hefted the weighty box into her arms. With the tips of her fingers, she snatched open her communicator.

"Alright Sy?" Blue Moon greeted her happily.

"After a fashion. I think I might have something, can I come round?"

"Yeah, sure. You sure you're okay? You sound out of sorts."

"I'll be fine. I need to talk to your resident telepath about what happened earlier. I'll see you in ten?"

"S'not like we're going anywhere. See you then." Syren nodded and clipped the palmtop closed again, pressing it securely into her back pocket and fastening the zip. With that, she heaved the chest again and started up the stairs and through the streets, finally setting it down on the steps of Tri-Q HQ. Once again it was Venom who met her at the door.

"Thought you'd be back," he said lightly, taking the crate from her. "Where'd this come from?"

"Some backend basement downtown." She caught his querying look and raised one of her tired arms in surrender. "Long story."

Venom nodded in appreciation and led her back through the main hall to the living room. Teleka had fallen asleep on the window seat and Blue Moon sat quietly reading a magazine hidden inside one of the files. It could have almost passed for an ordinary night, had it not been for the tense atmosphere and the slight crackles of red energy around Teleka. "What's wrong with her?" Syren asked

"She don't know. And we haven't been able to figure it out. She's been like that for hours. Don't s'pose you know, do you?" Blue Moon informed her, a tone of worry on her voice. However, right at that second, with a shuddering gasp, Teleka withdrew from her catatonic state and rolled to the floor. Ignoring her awkward landing, she froze, fixing Syren with a passive, glassy stare.

"You... You met Daimen... In your head..." she murmured quietly, her eyes wide and frightened and still making no attempt to stand.

"How did you-?"

"Where's the orb?"

"You weren't there, you can't-"

"Where is it?" she repeated, her voice raised into a feral, scared shout. Venom hurriedly slid the box across the floor to her, skilfully moving no closer because the bolts had become much stronger since she had awakened. She ripped the lid away and scrabbled for the glass ball like something possessed. Her eyes and hands began to glow red and it hovered into the air above its case. She remained level with it, crawling in a predatory circle, examining the black glass. "So... So cold," she shuddered, shivering as stopped and dropped back onto her knees like a cat. Her already pale skin faded to icy white as she reached both hands in towards the sides of the orb. A tangible darkness seemed to reach out from its aura to meet her fingertips, but she paid no attention, her eyes hypnotised crimson pools. However, as soon as her skin made contact with the smooth surface, she collapsed sideways with an anguished cry. The orb dropped back into its comfortable position among the shreds of paper as the other three crowded around her.

"Telly!" Blue shouted impulsively, keen senses picking up a charred smell. She looked down, finding pieces of Teleka's thick leather gloves had been completely burnt away, and most of her skin was charred and smoking. "V! Quick, come and help me!" she tore off several of her gauzy blue wraps and began to bandage Teleka's hands until she could find something more substantial.

"What was that?" Syren questioned, shock and concern twisting her face.

"Not a clue. V, I've changed my mind, I can handle Telly. You send the smoke signals out. Get to the Titans; see if anything similar has ever happened to Rae. For God's sake do something instead of standin' there starin'!" She didn't speak without reason, because for once Venom seemed taken aback. He had entirely frozen, seeming to attempt to take in everything that had just happened. "Oh my bloody... Sy, do me favour?"

"Aye, sure," Syren replied, eager to help in any possible way.

"Whack him on the back of the head with something before I try to kill him!" As Blue attempted to revive Teleka, Syren shrugged and raised her arm, catching Venom and serving to snap him out of his trance. She dropped to the floor and snapped the lid back onto the crate.

"Mind trap," she muttered. "Has to be."

"What was that?" asked both of the others within moments of each other.

"Something to mess with her head." But the explanation was cut off when the unconscious teen began to seize, twitching frenetically. "Shit! What the hell's happening?" Syren shouted, dropping down beside Blue Moon as Venom latched on to Teleka's hand. However, her uncontrollable shaking ceased as suddenly as it had started. Silence fell heavily for a second. "Venom... her pulse is still there, right?"

He sharply checked and nodded silently. It seemed he had regained his composure as he took charge. "Blue, help me get her to her room. It'll be fine. Really." His tone was soft and reassuring, but the honed lie detector in Blue Moon saw through the façade; everything would not be fine... not really.

Several hours later, Teleka was lying comatose on her bed, the silken sheets drawn up almost to her neck. Blue Moon had long since fallen asleep on the sofa opposite, but Syren and Venom were still wide-awake.

"This is my fault... I shouldn't have brought that thing here. I... I should go. Tell her I'm sorry when she comes to." Syren made no attempt to leave however.

"Don't. If she's going to be out for a while, then we might need your help." Venom remained calm and authoritative at all times, not inviting her to stay without demanding it.

"I... I'm not used to this kind of thing. I take up with thugs and wannabe gangsters, not this kind of-"

"That's how we started. Don't sweat it. There's a first time for everything, right?"

"Guess so..." She looked away slowly, taking her eyes away from Teleka where she lay on the bed. "Venom... I overheard you saying once that Teleka had been in your head too. Afterwards... Was anything _different_?" she asked frankly, but at the same time not addressing her worries directly.

"This was what you wanted to talk to her about, wasn't it? What happened?"

"What? No, nothing! I was just... curious, is all." But she caught his piercing look and began to explain. "My sword wound's healed. I jumped out of an eighth-floor window. I'm seeing things. So, was it her fault or am I going mad?"

"If it was, she didn't do it intentionally."

"I know... But... I just jumped, didn't even know what I was doing, just did it..."

"Sounds like she left herself up there. Always acts on impulse." Thankfully, the door knocked softly and opened a crack. "Hey Speedy. Figured you'd show up sometime tonight."

"Is she okay?" he asked worriedly, walking to the edge of the bed and taking her hand. "What happened?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Syren replied darkly. "Long time, no see, huh Speedy?"

"Yeah, it has been," but he was somewhat preoccupied. For a second, he could have sworn he had heard a tiny moan from Teleka, but when nothing happened, he joined the other two, sitting down and looking on, just as helpless. After several minutes he seemed to crack. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. Isn't there someone who can get inside _her_ head and sort things out? She looks ill, can't we do anything?"

"No. We've been through all this. She's stable, that's all we know."

"So you've been through everything? And nothing worked?"

"That's not what I-"

"Stop," Syren broke in sternly. "Maybe it's not my place to say, but I don't think fighting is helping." As though her words had done it, another tiny noise, like the first mews of a kitten, emanated from Teleka and she tossed slightly, twisting the sheets. At this, even Blue Moon jerked from her sleep to join the others edging closer to the bed. It was Speedy who first reached out for her limp hand, but found that within inches of her skin, flashes of telekinesis flickered out to force him back.

"Don't touch... not me... not the orb..." she whispered, but the simple action seemed to cost her great effort. Her eyes fluttered, only to close again with fatigue and exasperation as an alarm rang out somewhere in HQ.

"No prizes for guessing who that is," Blue Moon sighed. "I'll stay with her."

"No," Venom interjected sharply. "We'll need you, let Syren stay."

"What?" Blue exclaimed, but Venom pulled her behind him as he left the room, reluctantly followed by Speedy, acknowledging Syren's grateful nod. "I don't bloody believe this!" continued the shouting, fading off down the corridor. Syren smiled briefly before moving as closely as she dared to Teleka.

"Teleka?" Slowly, Teleka turned her head and shifted into a more comfortable position. "I... just wanted to say I'm sorry for bringing that thing here."

"Don't be. It's a link. We can use it." Teleka's sentences were short through her laboured breathing. Her eyes flickered open, slightly red, and her voice was suddenly within the confines of Syren's mind. "I'm going to speak telepathically. It's easier for me."

"Got it. What do you mean a link?"

"I don't know. I need to see it again. But there's something primitive about it. I think I completely overloaded on power."

"I know how that feels," Syren thought ruefully, forgetting entirely that Teleka was within her head.

"I knew there was something wrong with you," she replied, her eyes narrowed slightly with the question. "What is it? Your mind's too open..."

"Ever since you were in my head... I can do things, weird things," she told her hesitantly. Teleka sensed her discomfort and offered to simply extract the events from her mind, an offer Syren gratefully accepted. Teleka's eyes shut again and she thought deeply about the jump, the senses and instincts, the apparition of Daimen... after a moment she shook her head, so slightly it was barely a motion.

"All I can think of, when I broke through the cave in your head, there was more light getting in. From another part. Maybe this is something that was already inside you. I'd have to see inside again to know for sure." But Syren shook her head fervently by contrast.

"No. Never again. Besides, you're too weak."

"Stop making excuses, my mind's never been stronger. It's the only way to find out. Now are we doing this or not?"

_Meanwhile... _

Within their careers, all of those now standing outside the Bank of Gotham had seen more than their share of the evils in the world. But the sight of the middle-aged man on the pavement, pieces of his skull as far away as the other side of the road was a sickening experience for any of them. "Nice..." Speedy murmured quietly as Blue Moon fought not to be violently ill. Venom walked on quietly, through the now deserted area, seeking out the source of the disturbance. Before he knew it, Blue was dogging his heels almost fearfully. He turned and fixed her with a disbelieving look, but she simply looked up at him with large, cow-like eyes and pointed to the maimed victim with a slow nod as if to demonstrate.

"You'll have to be quieter than that," came Daimen's mocking tone as he stepped out to meet them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Blue Moon snapped, suddenly emboldened by the horrific sight.

"Oh, you like the work? Thought that would get your attention."

"You have our attention now what do you want?" Venom spat in reply, his fangs lengthening and beginning to drip poison.

"Simple. Revenge." With amazing speed, Daimen drew one of his katanas and wielded it expertly, slashing into Blue Moon before she even knew it. The blood from the gash that travelled from one arm to the next was on her hands before she felt the pain and she dropped back against the wall. "You got lucky last time. She was stopping me. Told me we had enough. But now she's not here. You're little mind game's all laid up in bed trying to help the cute Irish vigilante with what she can't understand. And you won't be so lucky." Venom dove forward in a rage while Speedy fired from behind, but Daimen simply took the arrow and threw Venom away with the ease of a heavyweight boxer sending a featherweight to the ropes. Venom crashed into the wall with a resounding thud, but bravely attempted to regain his footing. It wasn't until he found himself pinned to the wall with the katana through his shoulder that he stopped struggling, staring in horror as the pain struck seconds after it had happened.

Suddenly, another arrow glowing with energy blasted off the hilt, allowing Venom to extract himself. "Get the hell up!" Speedy shouted, when he made no attempt to move. Blood was already streaming from his nose from trying to keep Daimen busy hand to hand. But Venom shook his head.

"Blue's bleeding out, we need to get her out of here."

"I wasn't going to kill any of you tonight anyway, if you care. I mean, where's the fun in that?" Daimen laughed flippantly, delivering another shattering punch to Speedy's jaw. "I have another appointment tonight. But I'll be seeing you all soon. Count on it." With one last blow he faded out into thin air, leaving a broken team behind him.

"Could that have gone worse?" Blue Moon choked in pain. Immediately, the other two looked straight to her worriedly. Venom pulled out a communicator hurriedly. "Syren, Telly, are either of you there?"

"Venom? That was quick. We shot of him already?"

"Not quite, Sy. Listen, is Teleka awake? If she's not you need to call an ambulance."

"Why? What's-" Suddenly, she was cut off as telekinesis latched onto the communicator and turned it to face Teleka.

"What happened? Show me. _I'll_ decide whether we need an ambulance or not."

"Good to have you back," Venom grimaced, showing her Blue who bravely attempted to smile on screen but couldn't mask the extreme pain she was in. "She can't fly. Should we bring her back to you or can you get down here?"

"Don't move her! Christ whatever you do, don't move her... I can work long-range, repair most of the damage telekinetically. Blue, you hear me? It'll be fine. I just need you to relax. It'll all be over in a couple of minutes." Blue Moon nodded in silence, swallowing the lump in her throat and tilted her head back, preparing for more agony. Slowly, torturously, the wound began to close on itself, the red glow lost in the plasma. She screamed as the last edges of the skin began to repair, knowing the worst was over now that the internal gashes were closed the bleeding had eased. She slumped against Venom, allowing him to hold her tightly, providing a small comfort while Teleka turned her attention to Venom and Speedy's wounds, trying to burn off the excess power she had obtained from the orb.

As she had promised, minutes later everything was repaired but their egos. "He didn't even break a sweat," Speedy murmured, mainly to himself as Blue sobbed sorely, still clinging to Venom like a life raft. "Is it just me, or are we totally unprepared for something like this?"

"Just you," the other two managed sharply as they began to rise as police finally arrived and it was definitely time to leave.

"That was a hell of a sound thing you just did," Syren smiled reassuringly as Teleka tried to regulate her breathing.

"What did you want me to do, let her die? People like us don't get rested in hospitals; they get interviewed and torn to pieces by media vultures before they're even dead... Breather, in the drawer by the bed," she pleaded gesturing towards the cabinet.

"What is it? Done yourself in again?" Syren tried to joke, handing her the breather. She had kept there ever since the Scarecrow incident.

"Something here..." Teleka's eyes snapped wide open into her glazed stare again, looking straight towards the ceiling. "Dark... power... pure... strong," she gasped, dropping the breather, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe.

"Are you enjoying this?" Syren turned her head sharply to the source of the voice, finding the glittering red eyes watching intently from the dark corners of the room again. "I am."

"Daimen," she rasped, having almost expected this and anger replacing fear. "Why are you doing this?"

"To punish her."

"Why use me?"

"She's one of these bleeding heart, take in stray kitten types. I thought it might be a good way to get to her."

"Congratulations, you're through now whatever you've done to her, undo it!"

"Very protective all of a sudden aren't you? You haven't cared about anything for over a year now. Why so friendly with these losers?"

"Well if you're the competition..."

"You're better than that. But still not good enough. For example... what could you possibly do if I tried this?" he asked, his voice becoming dangerously soft. Syren blinked and suddenly the shadows had moved right up to her face and a hand shot from the dark to wrap around her throat. However, just like her earlier jump from the window, instinct took over and she found herself watching him grasp from a sideways angle. Still unable to control her actions, she reached out and grabbed his hand by the wrist, twisting it away from her with such force she heard the snap and the shout to accompany it.

"I could always try that."

"That was mean. Especially when you weren't in any real danger. I was just demonstrating. But that's not the point. The point is, I'm capable of more than you can even imagine. And I haven't even started yet. If you come up against me, you won't be coming off the better."

"I look forward to it," she spat, crushing the bones harder before she felt it fade from her hand. However as one hand disappeared, another touched her peripheral vision, too close for instinct to do anything and swing in to knock her out. Syren dropped to the floor like a wet sandbag, sliding from her chair and crumpling into a heap. "I _didn't _imagine it before," she murmured as she slipped from consciousness...

Y'all love me, don't you? winkwinknudgenudge I like reviews... suggestive cough Well if you haven't got the bloody hint by now!


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